


Bloodbath

by IrvingIV



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:07:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26588626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrvingIV/pseuds/IrvingIV
Summary: Massive spoilers for both persona 4 and Fullmetal alchemist brotherhood and mangaThis is a double Midquel crossover fic, I'll add tags when I'm feeling less lazy.Also, first few chapters were originally from discord chat, like my last few fics, so i may have missed a random timestamp or error here and there, I'll return to fix that later.
Relationships: Shirogane Naoto/Tatsumi Kanji
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AWildOreo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AWildOreo/gifts), [IrvingIV](https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrvingIV/gifts).



Naoto sat up, her hair soaked with something which tasted metallic.

No matter where she looked, she could see nothing.

Rising from the mire, she felt through her coat pockets for her flashlight, she always had one on hand for just such an occasion, after all.

With a pained fizzle, the flashlight flickered to life.

Naoto stood in a sea of blood.

It stretched to the horizon and beyond, so far as she could tell.

_Where the hell am I?_

What had she been doing before?

_The last thing I remember doing. . ._

She had shoved Narukami out of the way of. . .something?

It had dragged her downward.

Grasping hands, tendrils of darkness, and, beneath it all, some sort of . . . eye?

Her vision swam for a moment, she stumbled and fell.

_Where are the others?_

She hoped they were okay.

* * *

. . .

Kanji rose, coughing and spluttering, from some sort of muck.

_God, what is this shit?_

His mouth tasted like. . .

_blood?_

_I hope I'm not dead, that'd be a lovely cap on todays carnival of horrors._

He saw a faint, white light in the distance, and fought to stand.

His legs were strong, from years of running, of chasing after ruffians who terrorized his neighborhood, and cycling after those hooligan bikers who dared to disturb his mother's sleep.

Kanji stood tall and walked, he would never let down his friends, he'd survive and protect everyone he cared about, Izanami be damned.

* * *

. . .

He hadn't expected to find Ling in the darkness, but Edward was grateful for the company nonetheless.

_We've been walking for hours, maybe days! But still no sign of an exit. . ._

"I don't think I can walk much further, Edward."

Ling sank to his knees with a splash, he moved to catch himself, and his torch was extinguished.

_This pampered prince, however good he fights, he lacks the strength of his closest allies, they wouldn't collapse like this!_

"Get up and walk, you spineless jellyfish!"

Edward leaned over Ling.

"It's bad enough when you collapse in the street, but here?!"

Ling sank lower, his breath ragged.

"I'm far too tired, just leave me behind, I'll only slow you down."

Edward feigned a longing gaze into the distance, as if he were seriously considering the offer.

_Ling cares about not letting his friends down more than he cares about his own safety or comfort, so. . ._

"You have people waiting for you, back home, what about them, Ling? What about your clan? What about Fu and Lan Fan, are you going to let _them_ down?"

The Emperor's son sighed heavily.

"Edward, you have people waiting for you, too. I'd be walking if i had the energy."

"Fine, be that way."

Edward turned away.

"I'm seriously leaving you here."

He took a few steps.

"I'm not messing around, Ling!"

. . .

Edward panted from the weight as he walked.

"What happened to leaving me behind?"

"It's like I said, You've got people waiting for you back home, just like I do."

Another laborious step.

"Besides, what would I say to Fu and Lan Fan if I just left you here to die?"

Ling chuckled quietly, then trailed into a series of gentle coughs.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

. . .


	2. Convergence

Using blood for alchemy was no easy task, it had so many pieces mixed in to focus on, but with how much there was, Edward could grab plenty of carbon and Iron and various other things to make a nice walking stick, which certainly helped to lighten the load as he carried Ling wherever they were headed.

After several more hours, the two eventually collapsed onto a large stone slab, probably chewed off of some grand structure who knows where that had since fallen to ruin.

"I'm so hungry I could eat my own arm," Ling began.

"Trust me, you don't want to go through with losing a limb," Edward half joked, in truth, his hunger was nearing that point, too.

"Hey, I've got an Idea," He removed his boot and dumped out the blood that had filled it.

"Leather goods are edible, right? We've got a meal."

"You don't have athlete's foot or something?"

"My foot's made of metal, you idiot!"

Gathering wood for the fire was no small task, but alchemy eased the process of removing it from larger structures.

Coupled with a transmuted cooking pot and water derived from the blood, they eventually managed to cook the leather until it was soft enough to bite.

* * *

Kanji saw the fire in the distance, the people moving about on the stone slab.

_Hang on, Naoto, I'll get us there soon._


	3. Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I suck at chapter names, Envy is on the way, it's like 5 a.m. and I'm too lazy to check if I tagged for Envy.

With a shudder and a grunt, Kanji buckled onto the stone slab, the weight of Naoto slight enough not to crush him where he lay, but heavy and dense enough to leave him extremely uncomfortable.

"Hey, could you two help a guy out?"

The two strangers seemed apprehensive, they withdrew slightly and whispered something between themselves.

"Seriously, my friend here's surprisingly heavy for her size, could you maybe at least pull her offa me?"

He wondered briefly if the bullets stuffed into her various pockets were to blame.

"How do we know you aren't Envy in disguise, or with some other hommunculus we haven't met?"

Kanji turned his eyes to look at the black haired boy, who apparently didn't trust him because he might be a hommunculus.

"I've got no Idea what a Hommunculus is, so I don't think I can tell you I'm not one. But I _can_ tell you I've never met this 'Envy' before."

The blonde haired one did a rough sketch of some palm tree looking person.

"This is Envy, they've got this tattooed on the left thigh."

The boy sketched an ouroboros with something in the middle.

"They've got siblings, with the tattoo in other places. If you're in here, Gluttony has swallowed you, so you probably saw the tattoo on his tongue."

Kanji had some familiarity with the ouroboros, a serpent swallowing its own tail, symbolism made for cooler crafts projects.

But he had never seen this version.

"I've never seen this before, sorry, we got sent here by Izanami."

It was the other's turn to look confused.

"Long story short, a bunch of teenagers were tracking down a murderer, and wound up punching three or four supposed gods in the face, the last try went really badly."

He gestured towards the sea of blood.

"I don't think there's a way out," the black haired boy said, "you may as well tell the whole story."

His friend was more optimistic.

"Don't count us out yet Ling, I'm sure if we keep going we'll find an exit!"

"Pretty sure if a god sent us two in here to get rid of us, it's not the sort of place you can just waltz out of."

A stranger stepped out of the darkness.

"How right you are."


	4. The spark of fury

"Please, show us the way out!"

Envy wasn't expecting that one.

Sure, the pipsqueak had been a prideful little brat, but it sort of made sense he'd turn to begging, considering they were mostly alone here, and how obviously desperate the situation was.

Apparently the foreigner from Xing wasn't quite caught up to the situation yet.

"You're already stooping to asking the enemy for help? Get ahold of yourself, Ed!"

"I'll be their best friend if it means I get out of here! We've got people to get back t-"

"It doesn't matter anyway, because there _is_ no way out."

"I can't believe how awful this is, it's bad enough we lost a sacrifice, but you went and got me swallowed with you, too."

"So we really are inside Gluttony?"

The brat had no clue, huh? Maybe a hint would help.

"Well. . . yes, and _no_ , see, it's a little more complicated than that."

"I'll agree with that," the fourth said.

Envy turned with surprise, having focused on the others, he paid attention to the other blond haired boy, crushed somewhat under the weight of their blue haired friend.

"Hi, I don't believe we've met. You're Envy?"

Envy responded with a wide grin.

"The one and only!"

"Could you help me out here? These guys don't seem too keen on lending a hand, and my chest is startin' to hurt."

"Nah, I got it, you stay put, Envy."

The pipsqueak moved over and lifted the blue/red mess off the other one and laid. . .her, Envy decided(they had an eye for such things), flat on her back, inspecting for injuries.

The spiky haired blond sat up, legs dangling over the edge of the stone.

"Ya don't actually have to stand y'know, you'll just get tired."

"I don't need to sit, I'm not weak like you humans."

"Weak?"

This guy didn't know his place, did he? Not that it mattered anymore.

"You said you agreed with me, why?"

The boy was caught off guard by the shift in subject, but caught up quickly enough.

"We got sent here by an angry god, it can't exactly be just the inside of some guy's stomach, can it?"

"Right you are, just ask the pips- I mean, the _alchemist_ , surely by now he's realized where we are."

Edward sat up straight as the blue one began to breathe more gently.

"I saw something before we got swallowed, I'd know that eye anywhere, it's the portal of truth."

The alchemist gestured widely at their surroundings.

"But the portal isn't supposed to be like this! It's not pitch black and filled with a sea of blood, it's more like. . . an entirely white void."

"So, that's what the real one looks like."

Spiky spoke next.

"What do you mean, real one? I saw an eye too, when i got sent here."

"Gluttony is a failed experiment by our father, to create his own portal of truth, and unlike the real one, there's no way out, so all we can do is sit here, and wait to die."

To punctuate the hopelessness of it all, Envy sat down, they had always stood or squatted or leaned in front of the alchemist and his allies, never willingly sat down, if they were willing to completely stop putting in the effort to look haughty, the message would sink in all the more.

"Well, if we're really stuck here-"

Envy perked up, it wasn't often they got to hear a human so close to death, clean up usually went to lust and gluttony, and occasionally pride.

"What, want to spend your dying moments in your girlfriend's arms?"

A flash of red lightning and Envy wore the guise of the rockbell girl.

Edward scowled.

"You aren't her, Envy, and that's not what I want."

Envy pointed at Edward's hands, clasped tightly over his knees.

"You seem awful stressed and lonesome, though, are you sure you don't want to be held?"

The teasing brought Ed to blushing and anger at once.

"No! I wanted to ask you about Ishval!"

"Why did the military destroy an entire country?"

Envy dropped the act, but kept the face, all the better to twist the knife.

"Oh, Ishval, I couldn't have asked for a better job than that one!"

Envy tented their hands.

"You heard about the incident that _started_ the war in Ishval, right?"

"I had always been told that a military officer shot an ishvalan child. . ."

"Yes, and the one who _proudly_ pulled the trigger was none other than. . ."


End file.
